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AUGUST 30. 1952
THREE—A
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
Bull and Perry Sts. SAVANNAH, CA.
TROY T v RIMES
MOYLE QUALITY LUGGAGE
REPAIRING
32 West Broughton
i
Savannah, Georgia
Lynes Realty Company
REALTORS
120 St. Julian St. East
Savannah, Georgia
AUTOMOTIVE
HEADQUARTERS
THE MOTOR SUPPLY
COMPANY, Inc.
Augusta Savannah Brunswick
Phone 2-4436 Phone 2-4186 Phone 240
THOMPSON MOTOR
SUPPLY CO., Inc.
Aiken, S. C.
Phone 300
Waycross, Ga.
Phone 1966
GROTTO AT ST. MARY’S HOME IN SAVANNAH—The replica of the Grotto of Lourdes at St.
Mary’s Home in Savannah was dedicated eleven years ago. It was given by the late Miss Anna
McCrohan as a memorial to her sister, Mother Mary Loyola, who as a Sister of Mercy had devoted
more than sixty years of her life to the education of youth and the care of the sick in Georgia.
Daily the girls at St. Mary’s Home gather before the Grotto to recite the Rosary, just as St. Bern
adette and her companions implored the intercession of the Immaculate Conception at the orig
inal Grotto of Lourdes.
Catholic Doctrine Admits Possibility
Of Man-Like Beings on Other Planets,
Catholic University Faculty Member Says
The author of the following
article is dean of the School of
Sacred Theology at the Catholic
University of America, associate
editor of The American Ec
clesiastical Review, and widely
known as a radio speaker,
author and teacher.
By the Very Rev. Francis J. Con
nell, C. SS. R.
(Written for N. C. W. C. News
Service)
The conjecture by some scien
tists that the alleged “flying
saucers” are space ships from an
other planet poses a pointed theo
logical question.
Can Catholic doctrine admit of
one or perhaps more worlds, other
than ours, peoples with rational
being similar to men on earth? Or
must we conclude—from the fact
that the Bible omits mention of
any other world inhabited by ra
tional creatures—that only the
earth contains beings made up of
material bodies and spiritual, in
tellectual and immortal souls?
The answer of theology is:
—Neither revelation, the com
mon teaching of the Fathers,
tradition, nor the solemn pro
nouncements of the Popes rule out
the possibility of life, perhaps
similar to ours, ori another planet.
Theologians have speculated on
this problems long before Orson
Welles frightened America with
dramas of “Men from Mars” or
Buck Rogers and before “space
ships” became standard fantasies
in the Sunday comics.
More than 70 years ago the ques
tion was discussed by the Rev.
Angelo Secchi, famous Italian
Jesuit astronomer, and the Rev.
Jacques Monsabre, prominent
French Dominican orator. Both
admited the possibility of rational
creatures existing on another
planet.
A modem theologian who touch
ed on the question is the Rev.
George Van Noort, a Dutch
scholar Who died within the last
decade. In his “Treatise on God the
Creator,” published in 1920, Father
Van Noort states:
“A person would not violate the
faith who would believe that there
are certain rational creatures on
other heavenly bodies.” (page 122).
Theologians have never dared to
limit the Omnipotence of God to
the creation of the world we know.
However, if other worlds and
other rational animals exist, they
need not be under the same dis
pensation of grace as the descend
ants of Adam and Eve. They would
not have incurred Original Sin be
cause of the fall of Adam in Para
dise. Consequently; they need not
have required the Redemption
which God’s Own Son brought to
our mankind through His death on
the cross.
If God created other rational
animals the theologian can imagine
a number of various states in
which they might exist., Here are
four of the principal ones:
(1) It is possible that these con
jectured beings, like our first par
ents, received a supernatural desti
ny from God together with extra
ordinary preternatural gifts. And
it is possible that like our first
parents they sinned and lost these
gifts.
The preternatural gifts lost by'
Adam and Eve include immortality
of the body, a perfect control of
the will over all the senses and a
highly enlightened mind.
If these conjectured outer-space
beings sinned, it is possible that
God extended to them the satis
factory value of the merits of
Christ made known to them by
some revelation. Or God could
have arranged for their Redemp
tion in another way.
According to a principle laid
down by St. Thomas Aquinas (Sum-
ma, part 3, question 3, art. 7), it
is possible that the Second Per
son of the Holy Trinity assumed
the nature of rational beings of
another world as well as human
nature "Tin earth. Or one of the
other Divine Persons could have
become Incarnate on another
planet. (Ibidem, art. 5).
A second possibility is that God
could have created these beings
in a purely natural state without
any supernatural or preternatural
gifts and with merely a natural but
eternal destiny.
In other words, they would have
been destined after death to a
purely natural happiness for all
eternity, but without the possibility
of beholding God face to face.
Their condition would have been
similar to tfyat now given to in
fants who died without Baptism.
These creatures would be mortal
and somewhat akin to men on
earth, but without any means of
supernatural grace. Their intellect
might be more perfect or less per
fect than ours.
A third possibility is that these
supposed extra-terrestial beings
received both the supernatural
and preternatural gifts of Adam
and Eve and did not lose them
through sin.
Thus they might still be living in
the conditions of a primordia'
“paradise of pleasure” such as
Genesis says Adam and Eve en
joyed before they ate the for
bidden fruit. They might be intel
lectually and physically far superior
to us.
With their preternatural gifts, it
would be reasonable to suppose
that they would be far ahead of us
technically. With their superior
intellect they might well have
mastered inter-planetary travel.
Granting the assumption of such
a world of enlightened intellect
and of wills adhering faithfully to
God, it is also reasonable to sur
mise that such beings would never
wage war against men on earth or
harm us in any way. In fact, it
would be unlikely that such be
ings should have conflicts among
themselves, or should ever have
invented weapons to destroy each
other.
If these supposed rational be
ings should possess the immortality
of body once enjoyed by Adam
and Eve it would be foolish for our
super-jet or rocket pilots to at-
Uempt to shoot them. They would
be unkillabte.
A fourth possibility is a world
of rational beings who like the
fallen angels sinned against God
and were never given another
chance to be reinstated in God’s
grace.
Such an assumption might well
given us a world of evil geniuses
They* could be creatures with
keen intellects but evil wills. Such
being would of course be unlikely
to bring our mankind any good.
Not only does Catholic doctrine
admit the possibility of he creation
of other worlds of rational beings.
It also admits the possibility of
pre-Adamites. That is, there could
have been a race of rational beings
on earth who died out before God
created Adam and Eve.
Among the theologians who
discuss this question and admit its
possibility are the Rev. Damonico
Palmieri, S. J., in his “De Crea-
tione” published in 1910; Fabre
dEnvieu in his “Les Origines de la
terre et de Ihommer,” published in
Paris in 1873, and Father Van
Noort in his “Treatise on God the
Creator.”
The theory that Catholic doc
trine condemns is that such fancied
pre-Adamites were living at the
time of Adam and Eve and are the
forebears of part of our present
human race. Adam and Eve are
held by Catholic teaching to be
the progenitors of all the people
who have lived since their time.
I have no intention’ whatsoever
of discussing the factual problem
of whether or not the alleged “fly
ing saucers” are actually space
ships from other planets. Indeed, I
am inclined to beleve that a more
prosiac explantion will be forth
coming on their origin. t
But it is well for Catholics to
know that the principles of their
faith are entirely reconcilable with
even the most astounding possibili
ties regarding life on other planets.
At any rate, there is according
to the solemn teaching of the Cath
olic Church a great multitude of
intellectual beings in addition to
human beings. They are^ the angels
in Heaven and the devils in hell.
Graduate of Benedictine
School in Savannah Gets
American Spirit Medal
SAVANNAH, Ga.—Private Wil
liam O. Cleary, son of Mr. and Mrs.
George J, Cleary, a graduate of
Benedictine Military School in the
class of ’46, has followed up his re
cent “Trainee of the Month” com
mendation from Colonel Earl W.
Heathcote, commanding officer of
the Antiaircraft Artillery Replace
ment Training Center, at Fort
Bliss, Texas, by being selected
from over 10,000 trainees to receive
the American Spirit Honor Medal.
The medal is awarded for the
“display of outstanding qualities of
leadership best expressing the
American spirit, honor, initiative,
loyalty and high example to com
rades in arms” during his training
i nthe RTC Leaders’ Course.